Help Please, First DWC and I think problem is overwatering

[Jgoasnhja]

Hello and thanks for the help! Like I said its my first DWC and I just put my plants into the DWC system 4 days ago and they were healthy.
My plants are 2 1/2 - 3 wks old now. I used rapid rooter plugs and a prop dome with heat mat untill they had roots showing. I used a very small 13watt fluro light the first 2 1/2 weeks before i moved them into DWC sys.
They had no signs of deficiancies besides streaching because of small light. Now they are under 400 watt son agro bulbs in 5 gallon DWC buckets. PH has been checked and kept between 5.6 - 5.8 everyday.
I'm using GH 3 part Flora series and used 1ml of each per gal. with distilled water.
The plants still have a decent green color to them and the tips dont even seem to be discoloring. They just are very droopy like and some tips curl up. Please take a look at the Pics, I think its overwatering but i would like to make sure and get some feedback. Thanks and every bit of help is appriciated!

 

[babyboi420]

to much water my man water once a week

 

[autotek500]

What type of lights are you using and what are your temps??? by the way don't listen to that nut, all he's doing is jumping from thred to thred spouting off the first thing that pops in his head...

 

[Jgoasnhja]

Im using 400 watt hps son agro bulbs and my temps ha been between 75 n 80

 

[babyboi420]

wrong bulb that heat lamp bulb mate wrong bulbs for sure

 

[Jgoasnhja]

wrong bulb, heat lamp? lol wow man all son agro bulbs are is a 400 watt hps bulb with an extra 30 watt of blue spectrum light in it. The bulbs are actually 430 watts. I guess u r just spitin stupid talk!

 

[autotek500]

No doubt dude that guy is completely ridiculous, he's just going around spoutin a bunch of useless nonsense.....the only thing I've seen that he's good at is totaly trashing the english language

 

[Jgoasnhja]

appriciate it man, but u got any ideas on what u think the problem is?
i mean despite what the other dude said i really think its overwaterin.
when i first put them in the system i put the water levels into the hydroton because i didnt think the plants would get ay water if the level was right below the net pots like i have heard, the roots were just showin through the rapid rooter

 

[autotek500]

You need to drop your water level down off your pots for a couple days....they should perk up...then you can bring the water level back up to 1/2 to 3/4 inches on the bottom of the pots....I'm assuming you have a good suply of bubbles in the tank?? Anyway the water needs to wik up to the plants untill the roots reach the water... then you can drop the water down off the pots a little to give the roots even more air....

 

[autotek500]

Sounds like the roots were not getting enough oxygen.....I have a drip feed bubble ponic system so this is a problem I did'nt have...

 

[Jgoasnhja]

Thanks man thats what I was thinking. I appriciate the input. Im gonna lower levels in morning. Also would underwatering cause same problem?

 

[autotek500]

Yea the symptoms can be similar but we know this in not the case right now.....I'm pretty sure a couple days after you drop the water you will see a big improvement....

 

[netpirate]

Well since you have HYDRO, over watering is not your problem since the roots are underwater. Your problem looks to be under oxygenating, which is the hydro equivalent to over watering. Check your air stones or add some. Maybe even a bigger pump.

Also I have seen journals with HPS vegging but you will get better results with a different spectrum of lighting. Remember that you are trying to mimic the sun intervals for the year. The HPS would mimic a HARVEST sun for flowering. Try a MH bulb or 6500k cfl's. Looks like a lot of stretching going on there and you need a constant air flow for the plants so you can build a proper fat stock.

My grow under CFL's

 

[netpirate]

My girl @ 3wks old.

Lighting is everything!! Try to use 1/4th strength for feeding.

 

[Jgoasnhja]

Sorry bout wrong terms "underoxengenated" I understand what you are saying. The question about not enough air stones or bigger pump cannot be an issue. I have spent extra $ and care on this issue to make sure that was not a problem. The light issue I understand. If you read my original page I said for the first 2 1/2 weeks I only had the plants under one of those cheap 13 watt fluro grow lights u get at wall mart. I know thats why there is so much streaching and not much foliage. I have done alot of research and have found that plants grow alot quicker since son agro bulbs are mostly hps light (red spectrum) which a regular hps this would just cause to much streaching, but since they add an extra 30 watts of blue spectrum this makes them allmost perfect for the veg growth. Try looking up a little info on Son Agro bulbs if u havent heard anything on them. I also appriciate your input since every bit of knowledge is helpful.

 

[netpirate]

Sorry bout wrong terms "underoxengenated" I understand what you are saying. The question about not enough air stones or bigger pump cannot be an issue. I have spent extra $ and care on this issue to make sure that was not a problem. The light issue I understand. If you read my original page I said for the first 2 1/2 weeks I only had the plants under one of those cheap 13 watt fluro grow lights u get at wall mart. I know thats why there is so much streaching and not much foliage. I have done alot of research and have found that plants grow alot quicker since son agro bulbs are mostly hps light (red spectrum) which a regular hps this would just cause to much streaching, but since they add an extra 30 watts of blue spectrum this makes them allmost perfect for the veg growth. Try looking up a little info on Son Agro bulbs if u havent heard anything on them. I also appriciate your input since every bit of knowledge is helpful.

Good luck then buddy.

 

[Jgoasnhja]

no prob I appriciate all your input so dont take my last comment as I know what Im talking about and you dont. I was just trying to help you out because I have read some really good things about Son Agro bulbs.
Any other info from you or anyone else would be very helpful.

Also a lil update. I lowered all the water levels on the plants as I said before I had the levels allmost an inch into the net pots because I was afaraid the water would not reach the plants since the roots just popped through the rapid rooters.
I now have the levels right under the net pots and I reset all the plants in the hydroton and made sure there was 1-1.5 " of hydroton on the bottom of the pots berfore i put the plants in.
Also when I took the plants out I have noticed that there was alot of root development since i put them in despite the fact of how they look. I dont know if that means anything or not.
Again any other input and help would be very helpful Thanks!

 

[yourlocal420]

Yea definately listen to netpirate he is on the right track. I have NEVER heard of overwatering in hydro and you have one of the best HPS bulbs you can buy IMO. It seems you have a grasp on the PH thing the only other thing I would check would be your amount of oxygen at the roots. Like net pirate said if the water level is too high your rooters will be too wet and the plants wont seem to breathe. It definately dont really look like a nute prob so I would ignore the dipshit that said you only need to water once a week and have heat lamp bulbs he is obviously out of his goddamn mind. People that ignorant shouldnt even post. There are a ton of people here at RIU that grow DWC so dont hesitate to ask any one of us for questions. Good luck with your grow man.

 

[Jgoasnhja]

Thanks man I appriciate it! Im sure you know what its like when its your first grow and all u want is everything to be perfect. All I have done for a couple months before I started is read and read as I cant seem to get enough of this stuff, but anyways sorry bout the wrong termanolagy thing there with overwatering ( I understand the oxygen water ratio thing ) and that since we never water with hydro I shouldnt have labeled it overwatering. The only thing that I think thats really screwing me up right now is the water level issue, which I should have just listened to everyone and set the levels below the pots the first time. I think once the roots grow down into the water I should be good.

I got another couple quick questions also, what is a good height to put my lights above the plants, remember they are small 3wks old.
My other q's is I am running six 5 gal DWC buckets with 2 air stones each.
I have one 45 lpm air pump http://http://thegardendepotinc.com/7644.htmlfor 3 buckets
and a 300 gallon pump http://http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753025
for the other 3 buckets, do you think this is plenty of air?
From doing a ton of reading most of the ppl I read about used alot less than this, but as allways the more info the better!

 

[BloodShot420]

looks like a lack of oxygen to me... i see you have plenty of air being pumped into the buckets though - but here's the kicker - how far are the roots out of those rockwool cubes? those things will NEVER dry out or let enough oxygen in...

when i did DWC i started all of the plants in a soilless mix and transplanted them into the DWC system when they were about as big as the ones you have - but i dropped them straight into the hydroton and made sure the bubbles were at least splashing onto the roots... once the roots hit the water by themselves the plants should take off...

what kind of water temps are you seeing?